I have been working in the microbiology/chemistry field for about 4 years now. I originally started my degree later in life towards chemistry however for unwanted events, it is not feasible for me to continue this route due to medical reasons. Chemical exposure caused me to develop a life long medical condition. Doctor advised me to get out of this field as for it can cause it to get worse.
Aside from that I have taken 1 and half years off from school due to this reason and I wish to start back this summer.
I am looking at learning a few programming languages on my own aside from the work I do now to support myself like Perl and C++. After I get used to that I will learn Java as well. It is scary starting over from scratch but I would like to get some opinions from others related to my age. I estimate that I will finish the computer science degree by age 34 years old.
What I see myself doing in the future with this degree would focus more on cyber security and also programming systems related to security.
I know ageism affects every field out there these days but will I have a hard time starting out when I finish school? I do not expect to be at the top of the totem pole but I do hope that people do not view my age as a negative factor and will give me a chance.
I just hope my age will not prevent me from getting jobs out there for me that provide enough to live comfortable and not live paycheck to paycheck as I have been doing as a lab tech for the past 4 years.
I searched other careers before deciding on CS such as MechE, EE, but for some reason CS makes more sense to me and I feel more comfortable with it.
Am I at a disadvantage due to my age? And should I push full steam ahead and pursue my new found path and set the doubts aside and do the best I can do?
I would appreciate some support and advice. Thank you.